Captain Josh Hagemeister checks in with the central Minnesota fishing report for both walleye and crappie. He’s been taking advantage of the stable weather conditions throughout the St. Cloud and Alexandria areas that have lead to some excellent late spring, early summer fishing. Here’s what he’s been focusing on when in pursue of Minnesota’s favorite fish, the delicious, but often elusive walleye.

“Hey folks. Captain Josh here. I just caught another walleye fishing a jig and crawler combination. Half of a crawler and a 1/8 oz green and white jig. I’ve been working the 7-9 foot range in newly formed cabbage beds. These areas have been full of nice eater sized walleye that are perfect for the table.

“In central Minnesota, the water temperatures are right around 67 degrees. Like I said before, focus your efforts on new green weed flats. The walleye are roaming around looking for a meal and so are the crappies. We’re actually catching both species of fish in the same areas.

“Try the 1/8 oz jig and drag it slowly through the new green weeds, put on the Spot-Lock or the anchor and fan cast around the boat, pull them in one by one. You’re going to find small pods of 5-10 fish”

As you can see, Josh has been focusing a lot of his efforts up shallow in the weeds. That’s been a big point of emphasis for him this spring. Many walleye anglers ignore these shallow water haunts in May and June and miss some excellent walleye fishing as a result. Next up in this week’s central Minnesota fishing report, Josh tackles panfish:

Josh has also been chasing down the crappies this spring. Here’s how he’s been targeting the slabs:

“I’ve been catching them with a simple bobber rig with a split shot, a small pink hook, and a crappie minnow. That’s about as simple as it gets!”

Sometimes we like to complicate things, but it’s the simple, tried and tested tactics that put fish in the boat! Special thanks to Captain Josh for the latest central Minnesota fishing report.